Just wondering if anyone else gets this: My skin peels (upper back, torso, chest, etc.) like your skin does if you've had a sun tan (not been in sun). It gets itchy, then if scratch, or rub lightly with fingers, it comes off. It has done this for a couple of years. I asked the infectious disease specialist, and he said a lot of women have skin that peels. Does anyone else get this??? ~ Carrie J

Hi, Carrie. I can't say that I have the skin peeling issue. The only skin problem I have is extra dry skin especially on my hands. I believe they have attributed mine to the Sjogren's antibodies in my blood. I have only once experienced any kind of itching and it was related to taking the Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil generic). Maybe someone else could help more. Take care,Always looking for the silver lining, Sharen

I just remembered that a few years ago when I was backpacking and hiking up to 11 miles in a day, my feet peeled really bad. I just thought it had to do with overuse and I vowed to get more state of the art shoes, which I've done. I've never had the skin peel again on the bottom of my feet, but I've never walked the miles I used to walk either. (which by the way is a small number of miles for people who backpack regularly) I really don't know if it had anything to do with my connective tissue issues. It was rather hideous to see, as my feet were quite callused at the time. I had to use sports tape and wrap both feet around the instep. I was just so determined to do that trip that I totally ignored the foot issues.

I was watching to see if you'd get some other responses. Interesting topic.

Blessings!

In His Grip

AlwaysRosie "We can't control the waves, but we can learn how to surf!!"

Thanks for your responses. AlwaysRosie, Having the skin on your feet peel sounds quite bizzare, too. I'm glad it was a one-time thing. Sharen, It makes sense that the dry skin would be related to Sjorgen's. I've noticed a lot of folks on the lupus board have Sjorgen's, and it doesn't sound fun at all.

I do appreciate you guys jumping in, even if your skin doesn't peel like a snake. I actually hesitated for a long while to ask this question because it's strange. I've wondered if it has something to do with rapid epithelial production, and/or having oily/thick skin? I couldn't find anything online about skin peeling like mine; maybe I'm putting the wrong words into the search engine?

I hope others jump in and share their strange skin symptoms. I don't get rashes, though. I just don't know what to make of skin that peels like a suntan for no reason at all. Thanks again for your responses!~Carrie

No, I haven't. I just mentioned it to the ID specialist in Nov/06, and he just said a lot of women have that. I think I'll mention it to my family doctor since I still think it's abnormal. The last time my Mom visited, I was itching my skin and flicking the dead skin from my fingers, so of course I apologized to my Mom that it was kind of a gross thing to do in front of someone. Kind of like running your fingers through your hair and throwing the hair on the floor -- my Mom used to hate to see my sister do that. Mom just said, "I don't know why that's still happening to you, and I think it's very strange."~Carrie

it happens to me all the time! my feet and hands are the worst. especially if i get an itch, it sounds really gross, but if i scratch an itch sometimes the first few layers of my skin just come off. kinda like when you get rug-burn, just enough that it gets pink and if you touch it it stings. and my hands get blisters all the time, along with peeling...its very strange, but my doctors didn't seem to be too concerned with it...but my doctors are never too concerned with anything, but thats a whole other story. well good luck with finding your answers!